


Bad Kids + Yarn

by sudsyjellyfish



Category: Dimension 20 (Web Series), Fantasy High
Genre: Angst, But Also a Bit of, Fluff, Gen, Knitting, because these children have been through some Stuff
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-09-22
Updated: 2019-09-25
Packaged: 2020-10-26 01:00:16
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 886
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20733632
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/sudsyjellyfish/pseuds/sudsyjellyfish
Summary: Little drabbles about each of the Bad Kids and their different relationships to knitting, crocheting, etc. I'm planning one chapter for each of the PCs, and I'll add to the tags/adjust ratings as I post each chapter.





	1. Kristen

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Kristen finds her own way to use her hands for good

Kristen learned how to knit at church camp, where she spent hours each day churning out scarves and hats for charity while listening to unending sermons about the blessings of Helio and the dangers of straying from His light. 

“And remember, children, idle hands are the Devil’s playthings!” her counselors would cheerfully announce whenever anyone stopped knitting to rest their hands. “The only way to remain in the favor of Helio is to keep doing his work.”

Looking back, Kristen can recognize that the overwhelming pressure to constantly act in the service of her god was incredibly manipulative and unhealthy; at the time, it just felt like the truth. For years during church services, her fingers and wrists would ache in some kind of twisted Pavlovian response to Helioic evangelism, and her empty hands served as a reminder of all her shortcomings.

For most of her freshman year at Aguefort, Kristen kept a ball of yarn and some needles in her backpack, mostly out of habit. As she found herself moving further and further away from her family’s religion, her supplies were pushed further and further towards the bottom of her bag, where she couldn’t see them and feel guilty about her wasted time. Besides, as Kristen was beginning to discover, time spent doing the things she loved and spending time with her friends couldn’t really be called wasted.

However, during their time in prison, Kristen’s feelings of uselessness and restlessness came surging back, and the yarn and needles in her bag began to look attractive again. At first, Angela Worrel was suspicious of the long, pointed needles (“WHO keeps letting the prisoners have their things?!”), but she eventually accepted that they weren’t exactly effective weapons. However, she was adamant that Kristen shouldn’t be able to just have open access to more yarn - after all, that was just asking for some kind of cockamamey escape plan. So Kristen was left to knit, frog, and reknit the same strip of fabric over and over again. While having something to do with her hands was certainly better than sitting around and listening to the officers bicker all day, the somewhat Sisyphean task she was left with was hardly better than her days at church camp.

After founding the Church of Yes!, Kristen felt newly passionate about using her hands and free time to help others, but she just couldn’t stomach the thought of taking up knitting again. Instead, she decided to learn to crochet, and spends some time (but not too much) each week crafting soft octopus dolls to donate to premature babies in the NICU. Kristen’s wrists are overjoyed to finally have a different type of repetitive motion, and her guilt about spending time idly is finally at rest.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Frogging = pulling out knitting/crocheting (because you "rip it, rip it")
> 
> Crocheting octopodes for preemies is a real thing! The tentacles imitate the sensation of the umbilical cord and can help keep the little ones alive, which I think Kristen would be very into. (More info if you're interested: https://www.babble.com/parenting/crocheted-octopus-lovies-help-premature-babies/)


	2. Adaine

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Jawbone introduces Adaine to the benefits of knitting - inspired by my personal experience with using yarn to Cope

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> *And now for a completely different writing style* - this one's much more focused on dialogue, because experimentation! Hope y'all like it!

“You want me to do what?” Adaine asked incredulously.

Jawbone barely suppressed a sigh and forced himself to keep smiling. He wasn’t really surprised by Adaine’s reaction, but he’d be lying if he said he hadn’t been hoping for some more enthusiasm.

“Knitting, Adaine. Or crocheting, weaving, heck, I’d even take latch hook at this point,” he replied in an even tone.

“Yeah, no, I heard you, I just don’t really understand what you’re suggesting. Isn’t knitting just something that prissy old ladies do?” Adaine’s wrinkled expression made her distaste for Jawbone’s idea clear.

“Well, I definitely understand why you might think that, but I think you’d be surprised by the diversity of the yarnbending community! There are people of all ages, genders, and styles who are incredibly passionate about their crafts. There’s no one right way to be a knitter, and I think you’d fit into the community really well,” Jawbone explained.

“Huh. So do you knit, Jawbone?” 

Jawbone allowed himself a private grin for having caught her interest as he pulled his current project out from his desk drawer to show Adaine. 

“I sure do, kiddo. Helps keep me grounded, and it’s good for me to have something to do with my hands when I’m feeling stressed.” Jawbone knew better than to push Adaine, so he laid the groundwork and let her form her own conclusions.

“Good for stress, huh? Do you think it could help me, too?” Adaine asked overly-casually, like she was still embarrassed about needing the help.

“I think it just might. Meds and therapy seem to be making a big difference for you, but there’s never anything wrong with adding another coping mechanism to your toolbox.” Jawbone paused for a moment, considering how best to explain his reasoning to Adaine. “It’s like with your spells, right? Even if you have a couple that you always rely on in tough situations, you keep learning new ones, just in case you need them.” 

“Yeah, that makes sense,” Adaine mused, clearly warming up to the idea, “Having something to focus on besides whatever is making me anxious will probably help a lot.”

“Exactly! And I’ve found that making things can do a lot to ward off feelings of nihilism - after all, making a scarf or a sock is a pretty clear impact on the world,” Jawbone explained.

“That all sounds great,” Adaine added with a sly grin on her face, “but I think I’ll mostly need to keep my hands busy to stop myself from strangling Fabian every time he waxes poetic about my sister.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> No shade to Aelwyn supporters, of course - but I think it's pretty clear how Adaine (and Siobhan) feels about her right now!


End file.
